Have you every experience that feeling that you had to chalk to happiness — you could not find another adjective, so happy got selected? You are still a bit uncertain, unsure about what you did to be feeling this way so you do the checks….
You woke up alive and well, pain free and trouble free but you give no credit to that. You expected it to be so.
You had a spot of tea or perhaps your first mug of coffee and you felt the familiar rush of endorphins to your pleasure centers — but no, no credit there either. You bought the tea or you grew the coffee beans, yourself. You dried them, and ground them and set up your moka without any help from anyone else. So not that either.
You walk outside. The sky was blue and the clouds were white and fluffy, just as it was yesterday. There was no switch up from white to blue or even to black and purple. You expected that to be so. Nothing to be happy about.
There was a little bit of rain last night and tiny water droplets rest on the leaves of the hibiscus shrub that was now in full bloom, the same shrub you planted. You went to the garden shop and selected it from amongst the other choices. Your money, your plant, your labour to dig the hole, add the manure and set it in its spot. You watered it every now and again. This was payback time, You expected these beautiful flowers. Cross that off the list, no contribution to this happy feeling.
One, two, three dogs dashed towards you. They came to greet you, leaving whatever they were doing, like chasing lizards or barking at the neighbour’s cat or digging holes in the moist earth, to give you a special good morning lick while they wait for their scratch in return. You love your dogs. They have been with you for while. You expect them to greet you and show you love. You feed them daily didn’t you? The exchange was igual-igual — you do for me, I do for you. But they would have a wait a bit for their kibbles, you are busy, trying to figure something out — this source of unexplained happiness. Was there some black magic involved? Was there some conspiracy to make you happy? Did that Pure Positive Energy take over your body when you were asleep and now you are possessed?
Why do we do that?
Why do we not appreciate the little things? The things that happen and so please us? The things that we played not a single role in their manifestation.
And why do we question our happiness, why do we have to go digging in the dungeons of our minds, looking for possible reasons? And then coming upon a reason or two as to why we should not feel this way?
We came here to be happy. We came here to live, and experience and grow. We are deserving. We signed up for this. Anyone telling us otherwise should not be listened to — I do not care who it is.
Grab happy when it comes. Acknowledge sadness and depression and unfortunate circumstances when they come as well. But you know what? Happy never leaves us. It is always there waiting to see how we would treat its opposite — keep it or toss it.
You know which I would choose.
I. Trudie Palmer
One Love